Honda CL450 by Lossa Engineering

I’m quite partial to adventure tourers spruced up with gear from the likes of Touratech. If you’re in the middle of nowhere, a 40-year-old motorcycle is probably not the best choice of transportation. But Jay LaRossa of Lossa Engineering begs to differ, and he’s built the bike to prove it.

This is Jay’s personal ride, a 1970 Honda CL450 built to tackle the rough stuff—and look sharp doing it. It’s also a practical custom, with not only panniers to hold Jay’s gear but also solar panels to charge electronic equipment.

The CL450 has been totally rewired and fitted with a modern rectifier and dry cell battery. Custom headlight ears house a HID light with a built-in rock guard, and the gas tank is from a CL350. Every nut and bolt was accounted for, and all the chrome stripped off. After Jay was happy with the mock-up, he sent everything out for powder coating, yellow zinc plating, anodizing and paint.

At the back are 40 cal. ammo cans, custom mounted with 1970s Hondaline saddle bag mounts that Jay modified so they could be taken on and off easily. The custom Lossa Engineering exhaust exits under the left side can and the rear suspension is taller than stock, so Jay fitted custom gearing and revised the chain clearance. The engine has been treated to Mikuni VM34 carbs with K&N pod filters.

1965 Shelby Cobra 289

This 1965 Shelby Cobra 289 is one of the cleaner, more minimalist examples of the more-famous-than-Elvis car that’s been a poster on every boy’s wall since 1962. The early Cobras resemble the AC Ace on which the car is based far more closely than the later year Shelbys, our American cousins can tend to get a little carried away when it comes to modifying cars to make them more powerful, much louder and less likely to impress Thatcher – which led to late-model Cobras becoming a little bit silly. Wonderful – but silly.

1965 was the final year that the MKII 289 cubic-inch Cobras were made, the 327 V8 was fitted to the new MKIII cars that began leaving Carroll Shelby’s world famous garage at the end of the year, so in some respects this car represents the last of the first Shelby Cobras.

That 289cu V8 was no slouch mind you, the fire-breathing American powered car weighed in at a smidge over 1,000 kilos, meaning it could handily embarrass many of the finest sports cars of the era. It’s thought that 528 Mark II Cobras were made in total before production shifted to the 327, it isn’t known how many of these cars have survived to the modern day.

Looking for what's going on in the world today? Head over to AutoBlog

Honda CB750 Scrambler by LHC

I have this hope that as the cafe racer craze begins to abate we’ll see a surge of other interesting retro-custom motorcycles, like scramblers for example. On the face of it they share a lot with cafe racers, both are stripped back to reduce weight, both typically have air-cooled engines, both came to popularity in the ’60s and both make me want to sell important possessions so I can afford them.

This scrambler is a hybrid of sorts, it lacks the classic high-exit exhaust pipes common on most bikes in the genre but does have the wide, enduro style handlebars, chunky tires, high front and rear fender, headlight guard, elevated rear suspension and an almost military look thanks to the mate-green paint work on the fuel tank.

The bike started life as a 1982 Honda CB750 before Richard and Lex at Left Hand Cycles got their hands on it and set about creating the rather unique bike you see above and below. Left Hand Cycles is based in the Netherlands and tends to focus on motorbikes from the ’60s and ’70s, their previous work has included a Yamaha XS650 and a beautiful old air-cooled Moto Guzzi.

The CB750 Enduro/Scrambler is sitting on a chunky pair of Heidenau K60 tires, it’s been fitted with carburettor mounted air-filters and a straight-through exhaust, so this probably isn’t the ideal vehicle for deer stalking. But it would be ideal for tearing through the forest and scaring the dragons.

If you’re a fan of clean, simple motorcycles you might want to hit the link and visit LHC Motorcycles.

Yamaha XS360 by The Hookie

The Yamaha XS360 is an interesting motorcycle, the model never saw a huge production run and were, in many respects, the slightly smaller brother of the much more famous Yamaha XS400. Both bikes used an almost identical parallel-twin, air-cooled engine with a crank off-set of 180 degrees, both bikes had the same 6 speed transmission, both bikes used the same frame and both had a weight of 182kgs (400lbs).

This custom XS360 by The Hookie, a Germany based custom motorcycle workshop, has kept all the important elements of the bike in place whilst adding a few minor additions to bring out the bikes cafe-rat-racer potential.

The original handlebars were discarded in favour of a pair of classic clip-ons, the seat has been replaced with a custom all-in-one seat/rear cowling, a custom exhaust has been fitted, the mid-frame area has been tidied up, the fenders have been thrown away and the tires have been replaced by a pair of mud and snow chewing knobblies.

Custom cafe racers like this that have been designed with a minimal aesthetic and an rough-round-the-edges finish appeal to me greatly, they’re designed and built to be ridden, not looked at, and the negative comments shot back and forth by arm-chair mechanics ring a little hollow. This is a bike that doesn’t care what you think of it.

To see more from The Hookie, click the link here.

A Video Portrait of Custom Motorcycle Engineer Shinya Kimura

We recently came across a remarkable short film by director Henrik Hansen documenting the life of custom motorcycle engineer Shinya Kimura. The 2 minute 45 second film offers a video portrait of the Japanese engineer through a series of hip-hop montages juxtaposed against a quick recap of Kimura’s upbringing and his love of motorcycles.

2012 Triumph Bonneville by Vintage Racer

Ah the sights of Paris. Le Eiffel tower. Le Arc De Triomphe. Le modified Triumph Bonneville. The last of these is a recent addition to the visual splendour of Paris, and we have Vintage Racer Motorcycles to thank for the pleasure. This Bonnie was created for a customer who turned out to be a prince from Qatar, or an 'emir' in french – so they named the bike 'Bobbemir'. It has been built with all the hallmarks of Vintage Racer’s belief that their bikes should be ridden not hidden. Whether as an every day rider or something to take for a burn on a Sunday afternoon, their bikes are for blowing out cobwebs, not collecting them. This bike is as much a monument to French engineering as the Eiffel tower, but le tower Eiffel never had a chance to sport pipewrap. 

Starting with a standard 2012 Triumph Bonneville, the Vintage Racer crew hooked in to the build. Ditching the factory seat, a vintage camel leather bound cushion takes it’s place. Under the custom seat sits the reshaped rear guards, sporting a Daytona tail light in place of the factory one. The footrests are LSL supplied, with custom mounts to suit this Gallic work of art. The most notable part of the bike has to be the wheels though. This has been an awesome addition to the build, with Vintage Racers looking to Harley Davidson styled rims for inspiration. 17 inch Kineo rims, front and rear, mounted on Alpina hubs. The front end is wrapped in Michelin T63 120 profile rubber, while the rear is a Metzeler 160 profile tire. 

Edwin "Further" - London to Biarritz

Denim n’ bikes from the Edwin crew. A short video following folk from the denim brand and Kingdom of Kicks as they take a well-dressed road trip from London to Biarritz on some beautiful custom motorbikes.

2013 Triumph Scrambler

The modern Triumph Scrambler is one of those bikes that’s becoming increasingly popular with custom motorcycle builders, Triumph specifically designed the bike with end-user modifications in mind and so many buyers tend to spend the first few weeks of ownership in the garage with the bike up on a hydraulic lift tweaking it to suit their needs.

In many respects the bike is a two-wheeled version of the Land Rover Defender, both are built by venerable British marques, both are based on vintage off-roaders, both are gloriously simple to work on and they’re both the kind of vehicles that you can take out into the mud and guts without worrying about scratches, dings or dents.

The 2013 Triumph Scrambler is fitted with a parallel twin, 865cc, air-cooled engine that produces 58hp and a very respectable 50ft-lbs of torque. Carburettors have been discarded in order to meet EU emissions requirements so the engine is now fed by a multipoint sequential electronic fuel injection system with SAI, this has the added benefits of being more fuel efficient and making the bike exceedingly reliable.

Petrolicious Showcases Jack Olsen’s “Black Beauty” Porsche 911 RSR

More often than not, classic car owners deliberate whether to use their cars as daily drivers or keep them as garage queens. Why can't one car be everything? Black Beauty, Jack Olsen's Porsche 911 RSR, gets the royal treatment in The 12-Gauge Garage, but it also proudly wears rubber on the street and the track.

Jack built an enviable shop out of a suburban, two-car garage and worked on it until its engineering, design, and function matched that of the Black Beauty, a Porsche through and through.